Our Mission

FNAR 204, The Artistic Process Study Abroad in Italy, Summer 2009 CNU students at the Pantheon in Rome

The Department of Fine Art and Art History strives to promote an appreciation and understanding of the visual arts at Christopher Newport University. Through excellence in teaching and learning, we offer programs in studio art, art history and art education. We seek to build a strong foundation in the visual arts by developing skills through hands-on experience, the encouragement of conceptual thinking and engagement in rigorous scholarship, all with the goal of preparing students for graduate study and professional careers in the arts.

ArtCNU Alum/MAT student Bill Kaoudis with student at his elementary school placement during student teaching, Spring semester 2008

We Seek to Inspire Artists and Thinkers

Ryan Stromfors, Dr. Elizabeth Moran, Rebecca Howard, Laura Hemleben Our students have the opportunity to participate in PaidieaConferences yearly. Paidiea is sponsored by the CNU Undergraduate Research Council  which is committed to enhancing and promoting student research, and highlighting successful student-faculty research and scholarship.

Christopher Newport University is located between two of the country's best museums - the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond.  In addition, Newport News prides itself as an active, artistic community, rich with art centers and working artists’ studios. Our department is housed in the new Ferguson Center for the Arts designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The Ferguson Center is a cultural magnet for world-class performing artists and is the home of the Department of  Fine Art and Art History’s Falk Gallery of Art, The Ferguson Hall Gallery of Art and The Alexick Student Gallery offering teachers, students, and the Hampton Roads community a variety of exhibitions from student and regional artists to traveling exhibitions. The intimate Student Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of work by ArtCNU students.

The CNU Mission

The mission of Christopher Newport University is to provide educational

and cultural opportunities that benefit CNU students, the residents of the

Commonwealth of Virginia, and the nation. CNU provides outstanding academic

programs, encourages service and leadership within the community, and provides opportunities for student involvement in nationally and regionally recognized

research and arts programs. Our primary focus is excellence in teaching, inspired

by sound scholarship. At CNU, personal attention in small classes creates a student-centered environment where creativity and excellence can flourish. Our primary

emphasis is to provide outstanding undergraduate education.

We also serve the Commonwealth with Master's degree programs that

provide intellectual and professional development for graduate level students.

   We are committed to providing a liberal arts education that stimulates

intellectual inquiry and fosters social and civic values. CNU students acquire

the qualities of mind and spirit that prepare them to lead lives with meaning

and purpose. As a state university, we are committed to service that shapes

the economic, civic, and cultural life of our community and Commonwealth.

ArtCNU STUDY ABROAD

Check out the Study Abroad Blog put together by faculty and

students who have participated in departmental Study Abroad trips

“The Artistic Process” FNAR 204

This course provides a study-abroad experience at an

undergraduate, lower-level which surveys works of art and

architecture in the light of influences which have helped shape art.

The course aims to examine the close relationship between art and its

cultural contexts by studying works of art in their original locations.

The artistic process will be inspected from the vantage point of the working

artist and what has most influenced the artist’s choices.

Depending on where in the world this course is taught, the emphasis of

FNAR 204 addresses specific aspects of the artist’s culture: history,

politics, religion, science and technology, while investigating more

subjective influences.

Mexico en Enero 2009

From January 3 - 16, 2009 Dr. Elizabeth Morán, art historian,

and studio artist, Professor Caroline Garrett

conducted ArtCNU's J-Term in Mexico.

The itinerary included visits to the Templo Mayor Museum, the

Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Museo de Arte Moderno,

Museo Mural Diego Rivera,Museo del Carmen and Museo 

Frida Kahlo (Casa Azul).Students will also visit Xochimilco,

Tula and Teotihuacan.